Kennedy Center Ballet 2011-12series announcement

The announcements are being made on-line this morning: http://www.kennedy-c...rams/newseason/I hope they post it all in writing on-line, so we can get exact dates. (Did anybody receive a press release with dates/programming they could post here?)

I didn't catch what the Mariinsky would be performing. We should have a press release soon. The return of POB after so many years is exciting. Ditto the Bolshoi's Coppelia. Too, Kaiser mentioned that this would be the 10th-anniv season of the Farrell troupe. In modern, we'll get Mark Morris' L'Allegro... and the Cunningham troupe, among others. Nice.

ABT's Firebird is not coming to DC, although it may come in future years. ABT's new Firebird premieres March 29, 2012, elsewhere...two months after the KennCen season.

The premiere, yes, is in Orange County, CA, but I assume it will be in the ABT Met season in 2012. It will likely be awhile before we see what they're presenting at the Met. But with ABT doing Bayadere at the Kennedy Center in 2012, that also seems like a safe bet for the Met season.

It does seem that a lot of Ballet Alerters visit several venues. I can't think of any single city -- not even New York -- that has all the great ballet to be seen, not that it ever did.

And ABT has a long history of doing a world premiere of a major production somewhere outside of New York, and then staging a big gala around the New York premiere later. It wouldn't work in reverse order, but New York does remain special for dance lovers. I'm thinking of premieres of Baryshnikov's Nutcracker and his Don Quixote in Washington, DC, followed months later by the NY premieres.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.)—The 2011–2012 ballet season at the Kennedy Center will highlight some of the world’s finest ballet companies, including American Ballet Theatre, Bolshoi Ballet, Mariinsky Ballet, New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet and the Kennedy Center’s own The Suzanne Farrell Ballet. The season will also include the Washington D.C. premiere of Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker, performed by American Ballet Theatre. All performances will be accompanied by the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra.

The 2011–2012 Kennedy Center ballet season will include:

The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, October 12-16, 2011, Eisenhower Theater
Celebrating its 10th Anniversary season, the company will present two all-Balanchine programs. In its fourth artistic partnership, Farrell Ballet will collaborate with the Sarasota Ballet and perform Diamonds on both programs. Diamonds, one of George Balanchine’s most famous ballets, features music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and was created for Suzanne Farrell in 1967. The Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra will accompany all performances under the baton of Emil de Cou. The company will also celebrate its anniversary season with their New York City engagement presented by the Joyce Theater October 19-23, 2011. Additional engagements and repertory will be announced at a later date.

American Ballet Theatre, December 7-11, 2011, Opera House
American Ballet Theatre will present the Washington, D.C. premiere of the Tchaikovsky classic
The Nutcracker, choreographed by artist-in-residence Alexei Ratmansky. American Ballet Theatre’s The Nutcracker, featuring scenery by Richard Hudson, premiered in December 2010 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. This will be the production’s first engagement outside of New York City.

Mariinsky Ballet, January 17-22, 2012, Opera House
The Mariinsky Ballet returns to the Opera House—their tenth visit in a ten-year partnership with the Kennedy Center—for seven performances. The company will present The Russian Seasons (Les Saisons Russes), a collection of works including Chopiniana, Scheherazade, a one act drama, and The Firebird, a Russian fairytale in two scenes. The three ballets, all choreographed by Mikhail Fokine, were among those selected by Sergei Diagalev in the early 1900s to be performed in Paris.

American Ballet Theatre, January 31–February 5, 2012, Opera House
American Ballet Theatre returns with a second engagement, presenting La Bayadère with choreography by Natalia Makarova after Marius Petipa. Amid the sweeping vistas and grand temples of mystical India, Natalia Makarova's staging of this Russian classic is an epic of love and revenge. The company will also present a program of mixed repertory.

New York City Ballet, April 3-8, 2012, Opera House
The world-class company returns for two mixed repertory programs: an all-american program featuring american choreographers and a 21st Century program, featuring new works. They will be accompanied by the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra.

Bolshoi Ballet, May 29-June 3, 2012, Opera House
The legendary company returns for seven performances of Coppélia, a sentimental comic ballet with original choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon to a ballet libretto by Saint-Léon and Charles Nuitter and music by Léo Delibes. It was based upon two macabre stories by E.T.A. Hoffmann, “Der Sandmann (The Sandman)” and “Die Puppe (The Doll).”

Paris Opera Ballet, July 5-8, 2012, Opera House
The company will return to the Kennedy Center for the first time since 1993 with six performances of Giselle, with choreography by Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot and Marius Petipa. The Paris Opera Ballet (Ballet de l’Opéra national de Paris) is the official ballet company of the Paris Opera, and is considered to be one of the world’s finest companies.

As part of the Kennedy Center’s ongoing Explore the Arts™ education program, events will be held in conjunction with most engagements.
To receive subscription information by mail, call the Subscription Office at (202) 416-8500. Subscriptions may be purchased in advance. Groups of 20 or more may contact Kennedy Center Group Sales at (202) 416-8400. Dates for sales of individual tickets will be announced at a later date.

According to the following article, Paris Opera Ballet will be making other stops in the U.S. in addition to the Kennedy Center during the summer of 2012. The company will appear in Chicago, and will appear at Lincoln Center after the Kennedy Center engagement. YEAH!!

According to the following article, Paris Opera Ballet will be making other stops in the U.S. in addition to the Kennedy Center during the summer of 2012. The company will appear in Chicago, and will appear at Lincoln Center after the Kennedy Center engagement. YEAH!!

The 2011-2012 season seems like an exciting season (more so than usual) for ballet throughout the US, beginning this year with Royal Danish and Mariinsky summer tours. All we are missing is the Royal from London...where art thou, Monica Mason??

According to the following article, Paris Opera Ballet will be making other stops in the U.S. in addition to the Kennedy Center during the summer of 2012. The company will appear in Chicago, and will appear at Lincoln Center after the Kennedy Center engagement. YEAH!!

Thanks. I definitely would love to see the triple bill that includes the gorgeous Suite en Blanc, which would allow us to view so many etoiles on the stage at the same time + L'Arlessiene + Bolero. To think that the Kennedy Center could have presented this!